After struggling in recent seasons, the Parramatta Eels appointed Ricky Stuart as coach in the hope he could turn the club’s fortunes around.
After an impressive opening round victory over the Warriors, however, the Eels struggled to win for another three matches.
A lot of criticism was directed towards Eels fullback and co-captain Jarryd Hayne. After a dismal 50-0 loss to the Roosters, the Eels rebounded last round with a victory over the Sharks, in which Hayne proved to be a key player.
Ahead of this round’s match against the Gold Coast Titans, I have a look at the question many have been asking, ‘Is Jarryd Hayne any good?’
There is no denying that Jarryd is, or has been, a great player. Hayne was crucial in the Eels’ impressive finals run of 2009.
After struggling initially in the season, dropping to third last on the ladder, Parramatta turned their misfortunes around and finished the regular season in eighth.
The team continued their brilliant streak into the finals and made the 2009 grand final. Hayne’s great work during the season was rewarded when he won the Dally M Medal for the NRL’s player of the year.
Unfortunately the Eels lost the final to the ‘cashed-out’ Melbourne Victory.
Jarryd’s performance during the match was disappointing, with Storm’s fullback Billy Slater being the much more impressive player in the decider.
I think Hayne’s major problem is he is inconsistent.
Jarryd failed to carry his brilliant form into the 2009 grand final, and the same problem can still be seen this season.
Sometimes the ‘Hayne Plane’ plays great, and the 2009 Dally M winner can still be seen in him.
Other times, however, Jarryd is more of a ‘Hayne Pain’.
While the Hayne Plane is quick and creative, the Hayne Pain is slow and lazy and goes missing during matches.
Hayne’s inconsistencies can already be seen this season. He was great in the opening match against the Warriors, but was far from impressive against the Bulldogs, to whom the Eels lost 16 to 20 one round later.
Parramatta has been too reliant upon the inconsistent Hayne in recent seasons. Except for their 50-0 loss to Roosters, who ridiculously outclassed them, the Eels haven’t been playing that bad.
They played decently against the Bulldogs and the Tigers, but just lacked that killer threat.
Jarryd was not up to his Hayne Plane standard, but the Eels were waiting for him to lead them in the match.
In the Eels 13 to 6 victory over the Shark’s last round, Jarryd was not 2009 good, but managed to play well. As a fullback, Hayne should be looking to be his side’s last line of defence, as well as an important play maker during the attack.
Against the Shark’s Jarryd fulfilled half of this criteria, but left most of the play-making to Sandow and Kelly. However Hayne did make the occasional run forward and managed to cause some trouble for the Sharks.
Maybe this is the way forward for the Eels and Jarryd Hayne. They cannot keep waiting and relying on him to provide the killer threat they need.
He is too inconsistent, and as we have seen in recent rounds, he will be great one match but awful the next.
Perhaps the Eels will need to look to others, like Sandow, for the killer threat they need to finish off matches.
But Jarryd will still need to find some consistency to become a great fullback once again.
Jarryd may never return to the Dally M winning Hayne Plane of 2009, but will need to avoid becoming the Hayne Pain too often.
Not quite as impressive as a plane, but perhaps Jarryd can turn himself into a ‘Hayne Train’ as a form of compromise.
In answering my question of whether Hayne is any good, I guess he will have to answer that question himself when he takes the field against the Titans this Sunday.
If Hayne can find some consistency and the Eels do not rely too heavily on him, perhaps the Eels fans will get that great season they have been waiting for.
Saul Good
Guest
As some have mentioned Jarryd is a superstar and would preform better if he was in another team. As for his inconsistency I think he puts himself under pressure by trying to do too much when the team should be performing. A team where all players pull their weight and give 100% eg Broncos, Melbourne, Manley, Souths, Bulldogs would allow him to be the superstar he is. Inu is an example of this, almost immediately after starting with the Bulldogs he performed to his potential. I also have to give Jarryd credit though for opting to stay with Paramatta when he could easily dump them for another team. He sees potential in the Eels and he's not one of those players who is prepared to leave a team at a whim.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
I see the main problem for Hayne is that he produced a run of form the likes of which will never been in this generation. That's right, I rate Hayne's one man carry of Parramatta in 2009 better than Barba's performances last year simply because Hayne did it on his own without a superstar forward pack. Due to those performances in 2009 everyone expects them, when he doesn't produce them he is criticised. Yes I'd like to see him be more consistent in his performances but I know he won't produce that run of form again.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
Ha, "Kearney was a good coach" has me in stitches. Kearney was pig-headed in his approach at the Eels. He tried to implement a style of play that did not suit the half-back he had purchased. You don't buy a halfback like him and try to change his game to fit your style of coaching. Kearney's recruitment, apart from Sandow, was abysmal to say the least. Like Andy said, Hayne is struggling because the Eels don't have the cattle to assist him. Stuart likes Hayne as a player given his talent and I have seen Hayne improve under Stuart's coaching. But it will take time to fix a team that has been heavily damaged ever since Brian Smith left his post.
Paul
Guest
hayne should pull a lebron james, he will have more sucess there. Hes a terrific player that need to be with a coach that can utilise is skills better.
turbodewd
Roar Guru
There was some genius Hayne tonite, but also some crucial errors: He was 9/10 material for the night….almost!!! He did a lot of genius and also some crappyness! A good backup effort to gather a Matua grubber for his 1st try. Another AWESOME take of a Sandow bomb in the Titans in-goal for another try. Lots of good defence, including a ONE-HANDED take on his goal-line of a Titans’ grubber. HOWEVER!!!! Hayne dropped as easy bomb at the start of the game and the Titans scored soon after. Hayne also conceded a penalty for a hold-down in a tackle and soon after the GC got a penalty goal He threw one no-look hospital pass to his winger which they coughed up. But the worst bit was a Titans bomb near the end – he let it bounce! It went over his head and the GC scored! All up - 7 out of 10 tonite for Hayne. It should have been 9!!
turbodewd
Roar Guru
Versus the Tigers he had 2 no-look passes go to ground, luckily neither was turned over. He knocked on which led to a Tigers try soon after. The week before he was ordinary vs the Bulldogs. He put in a respectable game vs the Sharks last week - nothing amazing, but no errors. He is not a superstar, that I guarantee. As I stated in my piece 2-3 wks ago, the guy is lazy in defence at times. This is despite his physical gifts! Ive also posted many YouTube links highlighting his baffling defensive choices which have led to opposition tries. Personally I think he is part of the reason why Parra are bad. He doesnt lift his players, a superstar (eg Jordan), can lift players around him. And Hayne doesnt inject himself into the attack enough. Last week he was much better - 7/10.
Justin Cormick
Roar Guru
Definitely not bashing-Hayne. I am an Eels supporter and agree that he is their best player. However the team and Hayne have struggled in recent seasons and hopefully Stuart can do something to change that.
Justin Cormick
Roar Guru
Maybe. Hayne has been tried at different positions before, but it never really worked out so well.
Justin Cormick
Roar Guru
Interesting point. Kearney was a good coach, but struggled during his time at the Eels. It will be good to see what Stuart can get out of Hayne this year.
Scarecrow1810
Guest
Yet again another article that bashes Hayne. Yes he may be struggling at times to find consistency but it's a team sport. He can only do so much. All the love Slater gets may be warranted but there are other players in the storm that do their jobs for Slater to shine. If you put Slater in the current eels lineup, he will struggle massively. And if you put Hayne in the current storm lineup, he would have a blinder every game because he isn't relied upon the full 80 minutes of the game like he is with the eels. The reason that Hayne had a stellar year in 2009 was because nobody knew what he was capable of. He has been a marked man ever since. Every other team knows that if you shut down Hayne, then the eels are likely to lose. Forwards need to lay the platform. Playmakers are supposed to create opportunities for the backs. The backline are supposed to run the lines that their playmakers provide them. Hayne can't do everything, Parramatta's problem is that Hayne is their best runner and playmaker. But you can't expect Hayne to kick or pass to himself every time, do you? He needs his young teammates to step up and do their jobs. It's a team sport, not a one man band. I am betting that he misses having Inu and Mateo to take some of the pressure off him when it comes to this. They gave teams other targets to focus on besides Hayne. There's no other player in the current eels lineup that does that for him. Everybody still relies on Hayne to perform the miracle play. Even Hindmarsh admitted this in his recent biography and called the criticism on Hayne unfair. Hayne excels at Origin because he isn't expected to do everything. Twice he was voted NSW player of the series from playing out in the wing. Food for thought for all you Hayne bashers out there.
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Hayne's main difficulty is being positioned at fullback, where you're on your own in more ways than one. Were he playing 5/8th, he'd at least get a bit of cover from fire & assistance in attack.
oikee
Guest
Jarrad Hayne is a superstar. What needs to happen is for the Eels youngsters to mature a bit more and he will come into his own again. Don't forget, when Hayne went on that run into the final, the Eels had a team full of matured players, Calless Hindmarsh Bert and others. Have alook at them now, all younger players who are pretty good, they just need a time to toughen up and Gel. The Broncos went through much the same and are only now coming out the other side. Hayne needs to be promoted and revered, if you dont want him, send him to the Broncos, we would love to have a superstar on our books. I have always rated Hayne, his passing game is unreel and his power is awesome. They say he is lazy, i see him working his butt off because of bad defence by the younger guys. Time is all Parramatta needs, to gel.
db swannie
Guest
Playing for Sticky will harm your career. Instead of letting Hayne play his game (inconsistent as it is),Sticky has instilled the whingey/whiny complain about everything trait into Hayne,which means instead of playing his game ,he spends a lot of time bitching to the refs.
Andy
Guest
"I think Hayne’s major problem is he is inconsistent." I think his main problem is that he plays for the eels. If he went and played for a coach like Hasler, Bellamy, or Bennett who knows how good he may have been instead he choose to stay with the eels.